Offering a ‘home’ away from home

Represented by Renuka Natu in India, this London-based DMC offers HNIs and small private groups the comfort of being at home away from home when they are in the UK or Europe. Khushboo Shah, Founder & CEO, GO2UK&Europe Travels, shares details of what they offer and what are their focus areas.

Hazel Jain

What was your vision behind starting GO2UK&Europe Travels?

With a professional background in public relations and having worked in the travel industry what was clear to me was that there was a gap in the market for a destination management company that understood the needs of the Indian traveller and delivered a customer-centric service model for the luxury segment, which broke barriers of language, food, and at the same time was cost-effective. Having travelled extensively in the UK and Europe and managed tours for HNIs and private groups from across the world, it became clear to me that the comfort of ‘being a home away from home’ was a gap for Indians travelling to the UK and Europe: in many ways that become the genesis of Go2UK&Europe Travels. Headquartered out of London, GO2UK&Europe Travels focusses on private tours for FITs and small groups (15-20 pax).

How does it differentiate itself from others in the market?

Customer experience is at the centre of our company ethos. Additionally, we focus only on private tours for FITs and smaller groups (up to 20 pax) with experiences and itineraries which are still untapped. All our suppliers and hotels are hand selected though a vigorous process, which includes testing them on their ability to meet the customer experience. Our team is available to our customers all the time on tour.

What is the core customer base and target audience of GO2UK&Europe?

All leading large travel agents of India are now customers of GO2UK & Europe Travels – more and more, we are becoming the preferred partners for these folks for their private tours for FITs and private groups. Our customer base is now expanding beyond India to travel agents in Sri Lanka, Middle East and other parts of Asia. We specialise in tours for the UK and Europe. Popular destinations include England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Switzerland, France, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Croatia.

Europe is increasingly becoming a DIY destination. How do you differentiate services to ensure agent retention?

When travel agents come to us, they specifically look for private tours and an overall tried and tested service which they cannot find on the internet. There is a lot of time and effort that is involved in curating a great experience, including finding the right suppliers (hotels/restaurants/ drivers) and on tour support. Our ability to deliver that end to end service with a peace of mind, which is effortless not only for the travel agent/ end customer, but also delivers ‘value for money’, and will continue to be unmatched.

India representative

Speaking about what attracted her to represent GO2UK & Europe Travels, Renuka Natu, Travel Market Advisor, GO2UK&Europe Travels, says, “Europe has always been one of my top favourite continents. Having explored it as a solo traveller in my early 20s, Europe has always remained very close to my heart. The ethos of the team at Go2UK&Europe Travels resonates with my sensibilities and is aligned with my body of work in the luxury segment of the B2B platform in India. Hence, I am happy to be their marketing partner in India under ‘Renuka Natu Travel Relations’.”

GO2UK&Europe specialises in:

• 4/5-star accommodation – Stays in hotels, villas as well as castle stays for luxury travellers. For the adventurous ones, it can also provide igloo and treehouse stays
• One of its kind experiences – Out of the box experiences, going out of the way to curate an experience that has never been done before
• Private chauffeur driven vehicles – Tours in luxury cars like Bentley, Range Rover, Mercedes V class (for 5-7 people), Mercedes sprinters, as well as tours in helicopters. The chauffeurs are licensed and English speaking and can work with the clients to customise their tour based on their likes and dislikes. Multilingual drivers who know Hindi, Tamil, and Arabic
• Meals – Caters to all religions and provide all sorts of meals, which include Michelin, vegetarian, Jain, and Halal